RRB ALP Exam

Study Material for Basic Science &

Engineering
 MASS, WEIGHT AND DENSITY
Mass
● The mass (m) of a body of matter is quantitative measure of its inertia i.e., its
resistance to a change in the state of rest or motion of the body, when a force is
applied.
● SI unit of mass is the kilogram (kg). It is a scalar quantity.
● The greater the mass of a body, the smaller the rate of change in motion.
Inertia is the property of a mass which resists change from its states of rest or motion.
● The inertia of an object refers to the reluctance of the object to start moving if it is
stationary in the first instance or the reluctance of the object to stop moving if it rs
moving in the first instance.
● When a body of matter is stationary, it needs a force to make it start moving. The
bigger the mass, the bigger the force needed. We say that masses have inertia: a
reluctance to start moving.
Volume (V) is defined as the amount of space occupied by a three-dimensional object as
measured in cubic units.
● SI unit of volume is meter cube. It is a scalar quantity.

Weight
● The weight of an object is defined as the force of gravity on the object and may be
calculated as the mass times the acceleration of gravity, w = mg. Since the weight is a
force, its SI unit is the Newton.
● For an object in free fall, so that gravity is the only force acting on it, then the
expression for weight follows from Newton's second law.

● The value of g allows us to determine the net gravity force if it were in freefall and
that net gravity force is the weight.
● Another approach is to consider "g" to be the measure of the intensity of gravity field
in Newtons/kg at our location. We can view the weight as a measure of the mass in
kg times the intensity of the gravity field, 9.8 Newton's/kg under standard conditions.
Density
● Density (p) is defined as the mass of a substance per unit volume.
● SI unit of density is kilograms per meter cube (kg m−3)
● It is a scalar quantity.
● Another common unit of density is g cm−3.
● 1000 kg m−3 = 1 g cm−3
● ρ = mV
● The density of a substance does not change as we move from place to place as the
mass and volume does not depend on the gravitational acceleration of the point that
the object is at.
● There are two kinds of density, "weight density" and "mass density". We will only use
mass density and when we say: "density", its means "mass density".
● The metric system was designed so that water will have a density of one gram per
cubic centimetre or 1000 kilograms per cubic meter. Lead is about 10 times as dense
as water and Styrofoam is about one tenth as dense as water.

Fluid Density
● Mass per unit volume is defined as density. So, density at a point of a fluid is
represented as
● ρ = limΔV→0 Δm/ΔV = dm/dV
● where m is the mass and v is the volume of the fluid. Density is a positive scalar
quantity.
● SI unit: kg/m3
● Dimensions: [ML−3T0]
● For a solid body volume and density will be same as that of its constituent substance
of equal mass.
i.e., Mbody = Msub, then Vbody = Vsub and ρbody = ρsub
● But for a hollow body or body with air gaps
Mbody = Msub and Vbody > Vsub then ρbody < ρsub
● If m1 mass of liquid of density ρ1 and m2 mass of liquid of density ρ2 are mixed then,
MMIX = m1 + m2 and VMIX = V1 + V2 = m1/ρ1 + m2/ρ2
∴ ρ mix = M mix/V mix = (m1 + m2)/((m1/ρ1) + (m2/ρ2))
● If same masses are mixed, i.e., m1 = m2 = m then
● ρ mix = 2ρ1ρ2/(ρ1+ρ2) (harmonic mean of individual densities)
● If V1 volume of liquid of density ρ1 and V2 volume of liquid of density ρ2 are mixed
then
VMIX = V1 + V2 and,
MMIX = m1 + m2 = ρ1V1 + ρ2V2
∴ ρ mix = M mix/V mix = ρ1V1+ρ2V2/(V1+V2)
● If same volumes are mixed, i.e., V1 = V2 = V then,
ρ mix = (ρ1 + ρ2)/2 (arithmetic mean of individual densities)

Specific Weight or Weight Density (W)

 ● It is defined as the ratio of the weight of the fluid to its volume or the weight acting
per unit volume of the fluid.
● Specific weight, W = Weight/Volume
W = mg/V = [m/V]g = ρg
● SI Unit: N/m3
● Dimensions: [ML−2T−2]
● Specific weight of pure water at 4°C is 9.81 kN/m3

Relative Density
● It is defined as the ratio of the density of the given fluid to the density of pure water
at 4°C
● Relative density (R.D) = Density of given liquid/Density of pure water at 4°C.
● The density of water is maximum at 4°C and is equal to 1.0 × 103 kgm−3.
● Relative density or specific gravity is a unitless and dimensionless positive scalar
physical quantity.
● Being a dimensionless/unitless quantity R.D. of a substance is same in SI and CGS
system.

Specific Gravity
● It is defined as the ratio of the specific weight of the given fluid to the specific weight
of pure water at 4°C.
● Specific gravity = Specific weight of given liquid / Specific weight of pure water at
4°C (9.81kN/m3)
= (ργ × g)/(ρw × g) = ργ/ρw = R.D. of the liquid
● Thus, specific gravity of a liquid is numerically equal to the relative density of that
liquid and for calculation purposes they are used interchangeably.